Chapter 0143: Why Get Angry So Quickly? Your Highness, Stay and Hear Me Out!

“So it’s like this, this humble prince has a friend,” Xie Chengze cleared his throat, “His family holds a hereditary official position. By rights, his younger brother, being the legitimate son, should inherit this position after their father passes away.”

“But the steward’s son wants to support him in inheriting that official position, and therefore plans to bring down the legitimate son…”

“This friend is unwilling to collude with them, so he wants to…” Xie Chengze raised his hand and made a fierce slicing motion across his own neck, “But if he directly kills the other party, the steward will surely notice, leading to many complications. Thus, my friend doesn’t wish to use overt assassination methods…”

Hu Lai blinked his eyes, puzzled: “Your Highness, why not just say directly that the friend is you, and the steward’s son is the master of the person who tried to bribe this humble official with Gold Cakes? Why beat around the bush? This isn’t a consultation about emotional issues that requires using ‘a friend’ to confuse this humble official.”

Xie Chengze: …

Right, he wasn’t asking about emotional problems—why use a friend as a cover?

“Fine, it’s me,” Xie Chengze admitted openly.

“This person wants to push you to the throne, surely intending to make you a puppet emperor!” Hu Lai pondered for a moment before seriously analyzing, “After all, you were previously quite vulgar and easily manipulated, unlike the Crown Prince, who is shrewd and difficult to deal with.”

Xie Chengze: “…Could you get to the point?”

“Of course, his purpose in pushing you to the throne is either for high position and great power, or to replace you altogether. May I ask, does that steward’s son of yours desire…?” Hu Lai inquired.

“To replace me altogether,” Xie Chengze stated with certainty.

“Then, does the other party have any heirs?” Hu Lai asked further.

“None,” Xie Chengze shook his head.

“Then it’s simple,” Hu Lai had thought it was some serious and difficult problem, but it turned out to be this straightforward. “To ascend the throne, this person must ensure he remains intact so that he can produce his own bloodline to inherit his empire…”

“As long as we secretly…” Hu Lai glanced down at a certain part of Xie Chengze’s body, a fierce glint in his eyes, “castrate him. Then he’d be destined to be a eunuch—what use would it be even if he became emperor? He still wouldn’t have any heirs to inherit the throne!”

Xie Chengze: ???

Xie Chengze’s jaw dropped, then he closed it again. “Is there any other way…? His martial arts are unfathomable. I’m afraid my men would suffer losses, and I’m also worried about being recognized by him.”

“I see…” Hu Lai stroked his beard, deep in thought. “Then, is this person obsessed with martial arts? This humble official happens to have a peerless martial arts manual here. To practice this skill, one must first castrate oneself.”

Just as Xie Chengze was about to say that someone who wants to rebel would never castrate himself, he saw a sinister smile appear on Hu Lai’s face. “We can tear out the first page that mentions self-castration. Let him practice this secret skill. At first, he won’t notice anything unusual, but after practicing for a long time, he’ll suffer from deviation. By the time he realizes it, it will be too late to turn back. Then we can cut off that part of his—”

Xie Chengze: …

You just can’t let go of castration, can you!

“I shouldn’t have asked you. I must be sick in the head!”

Xie Chengze stormed off angrily, leaving Hu Lai standing alone, scratching his head with an innocent expression.

Why are you getting so worked up? He still has several cunning tricks up his sleeve that he hasn’t revealed yet!

Are you sure you don’t want to hear more, Your Highness? They’ll be really useful, Your Highness~

……

Shenzhou wasn’t far from Liaozhou. By the time they reached Liaozhou, the main road had been cleared enough for passage. The army quickened their pace and arrived at Tianshui City, where Xie Chengze was stationed, within two days.

Upon learning that Shen Yuan had brought people back, Xie Chengze eagerly rushed to the city gate to greet them. But he never expected that Shen Yuan had actually brought the entire army with him!

Staring at the dense crowd of soldiers in the distance, Xie Chengze swallowed hard, his eyes filled with excitement and exhilaration.

Shen Yuan!

You damn genius!

Who could be more obedient, hardworking, and resilient than soldiers? Not only are they diligent and uncomplaining, but they also don’t cause trouble or grumble about their hardships. Moreover, they possess greater strength than ordinary people for carving and transporting ice blocks!

With the help of these soldiers, the Ice Sculpture Festival would surely be held on schedule. They could even serve as security personnel to maintain order at the event—

And not just that…

Xie Chengze turned and dashed down the city wall, running toward the approaching troops.

Shen Yuan spotted Xie Chengze from afar. On the snow-white road, that flash of red was particularly eye-catching, like a little rabbit darting swiftly toward them. Though he usually seemed as lazy as a cat, now he was running surprisingly fast, his red fur coat billowing behind him.

Shen Yuan couldn’t help but smile. Then he saw the young man seemingly unsatisfied with his running speed. After covering a short distance, he began to slide effortlessly across the slippery snow, gliding swiftly in their direction.

In an instant, he had covered most of the distance. Though he moved quickly, the young man wobbled unsteadily every time he paused, looking quite precarious.

“Reckless,” Shen Yuan muttered under his breath. He urged his horse forward to meet the young man, who, as expected, had gotten carried away. While sliding, Xie Chengze suddenly tripped over something and tumbled headfirst!

“Shit—” Xie Chengze instinctively shielded his precious face, but the expected pain never came. Instead, he heard the neighing of a warhorse as a man leaped into the air and caught the flash of red in his arms. A steady, resigned voice followed, “Do you enjoy running around so much?”

“Ahem.” Xie Chengze coughed lightly, feeling guilty. Then, peeking around the man’s waist, he noticed another man riding over on horseback. He looked strangely familiar. “Could that be…”

“Correct, the Crown Prince,” Shen Yuan said, helping him stand upright. “You were quite close to him when you were young.”

Suddenly, a memory surfaced in Xie Chengze’s mind—a scene from his childhood, where he trailed behind a steady, composed boy, tugging at the boy’s sleeve and calling him “big brother.”

A childhood memory?

Xie Chengze remembered that when he first arrived here, his memories of early childhood were quite hazy. In contrast, his memories from after the age of nine were very…

Very… very what?

Xie Chengze suddenly clutched his head.

Strange… Why did he vaguely recall having inherited the original owner’s memories? Since when had he started forgetting them?

Instead, his childhood memories had suddenly become clearer.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Yuan asked, concerned by Xie Chengze’s unusual behavior.

“Nothing,” Xie Chengze shook his head and turned his gaze toward the armored man dismounting from his horse.

The man’s features indeed bore resemblance to Xie Jinyu and Xie Zimiao, confirming beyond doubt that this was Emperor Jian’s eldest son, Xie Shoujun. As this face gradually overlapped with that of the steady youth from his childhood memories, an inexplicable sense of dependency inexplicably arose in his heart.

Though this was their first meeting…

Could it be because the Crown Prince had a steadfast and uncomplicated disposition, rarely involved in power struggles in the original text, and posed no threat to his life, that he felt this unwarranted trust?

Xie Chengze stared blankly as the man strode toward him, not shifting his gaze for a moment. Just as Shen Yuan’s expression beside him grew increasingly profound, he suddenly slapped his palm and remembered the matter at hand.

He lunged toward the approaching Xie Shoujun, tightly embracing the other’s back, and exclaimed excitedly, “Elder brother! I’ve missed you so much!”

The sudden embrace stiffened Xie Shoujun’s entire body. Watching the young man in his arms lift his head to smile at him, even his stunning beauty couldn’t overshadow that pure, unadulterated grin. While his heart softened, he also felt somewhat at a loss.

He had mentally prepared for many scenarios before coming—what expression his second imperial brother might wear, how to respond if met with cold indifference, how to react if faced with detached aloofness.

Yet he had never anticipated such fervent enthusiasm, just like in their childhood days—still soft, clingy, and kitten-like.